My skull was beginning to ache from all my thoughts running around in tightly-wound circles. I needed a break, so I decided to push my dilemma to the side for the time being, and enjoy the moment. We were out in the city again, with gigantic cars rushing past us on the adjacent road, kicking up fallen leaves from the giant trees. I traced the lines of Joey's expansive palm with my fingers, relishing the feeling of his skin against mine.

"That tickles!" Joey giggled. His hand twitched underneath me, the skin creasing into soft folds. I was glad Joey was comfortable enough around me now that his hands didn't sweat anymore when he held me, so he didn't have to wear his gloves.

"My bad," I responded, laughing. "Where's the movie theater at? Is it far?"

"Nah, it's in the shopping center just a few blocks over," Joey answered. "We're lucky to live in a place where everything is so close. Well, close for giants at least. Maybe not for you." Normally I wouldn't have been especially bothered by his comment, but now it only underscored how out of place I was here. If I stayed, I would never be self-reliant. I would need others to transport me and take care of me. I had never been good at relying on other people.

I closed my eyes and forced those dismal reflections out of my brain again. I just wanted to enjoy my time with Joey tonight. The universe had other plans. We passed the diner where I had almost been eaten for breakfast with pancakes and I was reminded of the horrors that potentially awaited me if I elected to stay. I shrank down in Joey's hand, hugging my knees with my arms, and pressed myself against his torso, trying not to shiver at the recollection. Joey sensed my discomfort and folded his hands around me tenderly in a sort of embrace. His heart thudded in my ears and helped my mind go blank. The tension drained out of my body and I was able to relax again.

"Are you okay?" Joey asked in a low, gentle voice.

"Yeah," I assured him, "I just had some unsavory memories resurface when I saw the diner is all."

"Awww," Joey cooed, hugging me tighter to his chest. "Don't worry, I won't let anything like that happen to you again. I'll keep you safe." I curled up within his hands and soaked up his loving warmth. God, he felt so good. I did feel safe with him, like he could protect me from the giant world, with his immense size. I may be a human, and he may be a giant, but such a detail was trivial: Love bridged the gap between us.

We reached the movie theater, and Joey took me up to the ticket counter. A bored giantess manned the counter, absently twirling a long strand of hair with her finger and rudely chewing a piece of gum while tapping her long fake nails on the countertop. When she saw us, her eyes scrutinized Joey up and down with condescension, stopping briefly to stare at me before trailing up to Joey's face. Joey pointed out which movie he wanted to see.

"We only need one seat," he remarked. "So one ticket."

"Um, no. Two tickets," the giantess demanded with a huff. She pointed at me, her nail like a claw. "Two people, two tickets." Joey balked. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine," Joey grumbled, shelling out the cash. "Two tickets please." The giantess snatched up the money in her talons and tossed us our tickets. Joey went inside the theater and made a beeline for the concession stand.

"Why didn't you fight her?" I asked Joey. "You probably could have convinced her to just sell you one ticket."

Joey looked down at me and smiled. "I could have, but she was right. You are a person. I wasn't going to argue that point." Realizing what Joey was saying, a burst of love flowed through my heart for him. "I'm going to get some popcorn, do you want anything?"

"Nah, I'll share your popcorn. You don't mind right? I'll try not to hog it all for myself," I joked. Joey chuckled and ordered a bucket of popcorn for us to enjoy together, along with a cup of soda. He carefully perched me on his shoulder since his hands were full of snacks and headed to the theater, grabbing some napkins on the way there. I gripped a tuft of his messy hair and leaned on his neck for support so I wouldn't fall. Even so, he walked slowly and carefully until we made it to our seat. He gradually lowered his huge bulk into the chair, exhaling with relief when we were safely seated with no mishaps.

"Here you go," he said as he handed me a piece of popcorn that was absolutely monstrous in size. I bit off a small chunk, savoring the light fluffy goodness. Joey dug into the bucket with one hand, rustled around, and pulled out an entire handful of the giant popcorn pieces, shoving them in his mouth with glee. Since I was right next to his head, the crunching of his teeth as he chewed his food was very loud.

"JOEY!" a shrill voice blared in my ear, right behind us. Joey started and choked on the big mouthful of popcorn, coughing uncontrollably. I lost my balance and tumbled off his shoulder. I fell with a startled cry into the bucket of popcorn and was promptly buried in a deluge of buttery puffs.

"Jesus, Stephanie, don't do that! You made me drop Eren!" Joey shouted with indignation. He fished around in the bucket until he found me with his fingers and rescued me from drowning in butter. I had big splotches of butter on my limbs and face. At least I smelled good.

"Oops, sorry! I was just SO excited to see you guys, because I didn't know you'd be here!" Stephanie yelled. She had her posse of giantess friends with her who were all staring at me with undisguised curiosity. I felt a bit self-conscious, disheveled and covered in butter. "Let's sit together!"

Joey gritted his teeth in a forced smile. "Stephanie," he said patiently, suppressing his irritation, "If you don't mind... Eren and I are on a date. Would it bother you if we enjoy our time together, with just the two of us? We'll be happy to hang out with you at school tomorrow."

"Ooooooh a date!" Stephanie squealed. "That changes things! How romantic! We'll leave you two lovebirds alone!" She shooed her friends, who looked baffled at the idea of a human and giant dating, off to a distant corner of the theater to give us some privacy.

Joey sighed. "Sorry about that. You alright?"

"I'm fine," I assured him. "Don't be too harsh on her, she doesn't mean any harm. I think that's just the way her personality is." I squirmed a bit in Joey's fingers at the uncomfortable sensation of a trail of liquid butter running down my arm.

"I know," Joey said. He gazed down at me and a mischievous smirk crossed his lips. "You look tasty."

"Wha-" I began, but before I could finish my sentence Joey brought me up to his mouth and licked the dripping butter off my arm with his enormous tongue. I gasped in shock, not sure how to react.

"Mmmmmm," he hummed. "I could just eat you up right now." He licked one of my legs, then slurped on my other arm, sucking it into his lips almost up to my shoulder. I could feel the slippery hot flesh inside his mouth.

"Joey!" I cried out, laughing. Joey released my arm from his giant lips and laughed heartily in return, giving me a sloppy wet kiss on my body. For good measure he licked my other leg too, then did the gentlemanly thing and handed me a napkin so I could clean off properly. I wiped off the remaining butter and slobber best I could until I was acceptably clean, albeit with some butter stains on my clothes. Oh well.

The lights dimmed and the movie started. Joey handed me another piece of popcorn to munch on and stuffed more in his own mouth, crunching noisily. I was blown away by the epic sound system and the impossible size of the screen. This giant theater put a human IMAX theater to shame. I settled into the hollow made by Joey's collarbone and rested on his neck, feeling his pulse on my back.

I tried to ignore my feelings and focus on the movie. It was a fine production, with decent special effects and a quality storyline, albeit somewhat cliché. An ordinary guy got bitten by a freakish insect that escaped from a top secret lab experiment, and gained superpowers. Besides super strength, he had the ability to grow insectile body parts at will, such as multifaceted eyes, wings, extra limbs, a stinger, and serrated pinchers. The supervillain was a disgruntled scientist who was fired from the same lab for unethical behavior and had also been bitten, but he turned into a beastly and bloodthirsty megalomaniac who needed to be stopped by the hero. The finale culminated in the mad scientist going berserk and rampaging across the city, only to be torn to shreds by the protagonist in a graphic, bloody spectacle.

The film concluded, and Joey got up and left before Stephanie could intercept us, sucking down the last of the soda and chucking his trash in a bin on the way out. It was nighttime when we exited the theater. The night air was chilly, so I huddled up against Joey's giant body for warmth, using his shirt as a blanket. His natural scent increased my magnetic attraction to him. I was in heaven.

Joey's cavernous stomach growled like a starving animal. "Are you hungry for some dinner?" he asked me.

I placed my hand on my belly, as if I could gauge how empty it was from feeling the outside. "I could use a meal," I responded, mostly for Joey's benefit since he was clearly hungry. We stopped at a fast food joint next to the theater and shared a basket of chicken nuggets and fries, with Joey scarfing down the lion's share of the meal. Maybe I just got this impression because he was a giant, eating a giant amount of food, but I swear his mouth was like a vacuum cleaner for victuals. A growing giant needed his nutrients, I supposed. I was relieved that for once nothing seemed to go wrong, and I didn't fall into anybody's dinner or get eaten. I hated how even mundane outings could become hazardous when everything and everyone around me was so ludicrously gargantuan.

Even so, I didn't mind that Joey was so much larger than me. If anything, his gigantic size made him more appealing to me, because I felt safe and protected in his hands. Although I was diminutive by comparison, I didn't feel so vulnerable when around him. He treated me like a equal, yet at the same time was so gentle and careful with me, as if I were something precious and fragile. I supposed to him I was.

"Hey, Eren," Joey stated, snapping me out of my reverie. "I want to ask you something."

"What is it, Joey?" I gazed up at him from the platform of his hand, at his handsome countenance hovering over me high above. By now we were back at the giant school, just outside my dorm.

"Um..." His face flushed. "As I'm sure you know by now, I like you. I mean, I really, really like you." He glanced away and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. He was correct: By now it was pretty obvious we were both infatuated with each other. His eyes turned back to me, full of emotion. "Do you... would you want to..." He exhaled. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

I should have known such a question was heading my way, yet I was blindsided and stunned. I gaped at him. In a single moment my heart was torn in two. I so badly wanted to say yes, could almost taste the sweet word on the tip of my tongue that would in the moment cement our mutual happiness. I wanted Joey to hold me forever, to shower me with hugs and kisses, to love me unconditionally. I wanted to give myself up to him, my whole heart and body. However, I didn't know if such a lovely fantasy could ever become reality. If I went back to the humans, I would never see Joey again.

My indecision stretched out into several long, uncomfortable seconds. With every moment of hesitation, I twisted the knife of rejection deeper into Joey's heart. His facial expression became strained as he waited for my answer. He realized something was wrong, and his body seemed to deflate, his shoulders crumbling inward. I needed to say something, quickly, before I destroyed him.

"Joey..." I began. "I want to say yes, I really do. But there's something important I need to explain to you." I released a shaky breath. "I might be going back soon to live with other humans. If I do, I will probably never see you again."

Joey's face fell. "W-what?"

"When I spoke to Mr. Henderson earlier, he gave me a choice. He said I had the option to return to the other side of the wall, or stay here." I began to tear up. "Joey, I care so much about you, and I'm falling in love with you more every day, but I just don't know if I can do this." My lungs spasmed as the tears started to flow. "Living with giants is so dangerous. Look at all the close calls, all the terrible things that have happened to me already! I don't know if I can survive here!"

Joey was at a loss for words. He hadn't been expecting such a bombshell and couldn't recover from it. His face twisted up with pain and confusion and desperate sorrow. His legs buckled underneath him, and he collapsed to his knees with a crash. He was shocked. He slowly lowered me to the sidewalk, looking straight through me. He placed his hands on his knees to steady himself, arched his back, and took a deep breath, towering over me. His face contorted and twitched as he struggled to hold back his intense emotions. He was overcome.

Concealing his face with his hand, the giant choked out, "I-I have to go." He jumped to his feet and stumbled away quickly, not looking back, his clomping footsteps rattling the earth.

My heart was torn in half, but after seeing Joey's reaction it dropped to the ground and shattered into a million pieces.